Maiti: An Anthology
by NoRatCat
Summary: While humans deal with the zombie apocalypse that has gripped the world, animals deal with it in their own way. Different stories detail the walkers scourge, and how the Pridelands and beyond handle it. Lion King/Walking Dead crossover anthology.
1. Chapter 1

Flesh tore away from the young hare as teeth bore into it's body. Great moans of pleasure gave out, if the creature was even capable of feeling pleasure. Holding the hare tightly was a monster of rotting flesh, and one rarely seen in the Pride Lands. It stood erect on two legs, two arms much akin to a primate, and it's formally smooth skin now gray and discolored. The creature continued to eat away, paying no heed to it's surroundings. Even as the two lions approached it.

"Ugh! Another one?" Kovu exclaimed.

Another lion, a lioness bearing a crimson mark upon her shoulder, his sister Vitani approached him. "This is the third one this week." Vitani noted

Kovu eyed the rotting creature with disgust. "It just eats."

And that was all they did. This one, plus the previous three the Lion Guard had encountered had one simply goal in mind: to feed.

At last, the creature turned it's head and saw the two lions in it's midst. Dropping the hare, or rather what was left of it, it growled as it began to shamble it's way towards the two felines. Kovu prepped himself as the smell grew larger as the monster approached. Just before he was about to move, Kovu suddenly let out a cry.

"Vitani wait!"

The fiercest in the Pride Lands leaped forward, teeth bearing against the monster's neck. A great wet squelch gave away as a chunk of flesh ripped away from it's neck. Yet, the creature continued to move, arms flaying as it attempted to take a chunk off the lioness. But it's moans and growls were silenced as Vitani's paw rammed down upon it's skull. Brains and meat splattered, staining Vitani's paw. Vitani regretted her decision immediately.

"Gross! Like rotting fruit!" Vitani exclaimed.

"More like after it's been through the digestive track." Kovu added.

Vitani attempted to spit out the taste in her mouth. Nothing did it.

"You know? You didn't have to come out here with me." Said Kovu.

Vitani wiped off the grimace from her face, still regretting her decision. "You're the king now, I couldn't let anything happen to you.

"Look you may lead the Lion Guard, but you're still my sister, I don't feel comfortable with you dealing with these rotting freaks."

Vitani managed a smile towards her brother. "Thanks Kovu, but really, I've got this handled."

Kovu smiled himself. "Watering Hole?" He asked, noting his sister's expression.

"Watering Hole." Vitani responded.

The two lions started their trek, keeping an eye out for any "guests". Each lion wanted to say something, but couldn't think of anything. Least until Vitani broke the ice.

"You know? I've heard stories from some of the vultures."

"Stories?" Kovu repeated.

"Yeah, about those monsters."

"And?"

"Nothing much, just heard about there being herds of these things out there."

"Wait, herds?"

"Yeah," Vitani's face grew dark, "They just wander around moaning and killing and eating anything living they can get their hands on."

Now it was Kovu's turn to grimace. Just the thought of these things moving about in herds unnerved him to say the least.

"Great, that's just wonderful," Kovu retorted, "Bet the zebras are going to enjoy this bit of info."

Yes, no doubt there would be plenty of "panic and run!" all about. Why even the zebras in the Backlands would change their catchphrase.

"We should tell the Pridelanders about them. You know, prepare them." Vitani suggested.

"Should I? I mean should we really frighten everyone?" Kovu hesitated.

"Better than leaving them unprepared," Vitani replied, "But you're the king, I don't want to overstep my bounds."

Kovu's brow furrowed, "No, you're right, we should tell everyone. Better then the leave them unprepared."

"Shabaha's going to be happy to hear that, she took out the last two." Vitani chuckled with darkly

The Lion Guard's bravest had a "unique" personality to say the least. She thrived in the action and chaos. Not that she was crazy, she just had mentioned to her leader that she liked smashing the monster's heads. Said they made "popping" sounds.

"Got to say, this wasn't how I thought my reign would be like, dealing with freaks like these."

"Well Simba's reign didn't start off so great." Vitani reminded.

"Dealing with undead monsters is a little different than an evil uncle."

Vitani sighed, "Well you got me there, honestly I'd take fighting Scar to these things any day."

"Man I can still smell it on your breath!" Kovu said waving a paw in the air.

"Better than tasting it." Vitani said as she stuck out her tongue.

"Well if a herd shows up, you could always use the Roar on them." Kovu suggested.

"Yeah but then some poor innocent animals would have a bunch of living corpses fall on them. I mean it's skull went, just imagine the rest of them. And you know those things don't go down unless you destroy their heads."

Vitani had painted an unpleasant image in her brother's head. Based on what they had heard and seen, those things would still move even after their limbs had been torn off. Even if they were just reduced to a mere head, they would live. If that term could even apply to creatures such as these.

"Kovu, what ever happens, I've got yours and Kiara's backs. You know that right?" Vitani asked.

"I know. You've always been a good sister." Kovu replied with a smile.

Vitani frowned. "To you at least. Honestly looking back, I was pretty lousy to Nuka."

Kovu frowned as well recalling their older brother. "Look, I'm sure you didn't mean it. I know you loved him, just like me."

The lioness's frown flipped into a grin, "Thanks. I needed to hear that. But I know I could have treated him better. I mean moth-Zira didn't show him any affection until his death," Vitani lamented, "He should be here with us."

Life could indeed be unfair, but that's how the circle went sometimes. Sometimes one creature lived, while another died. Neither Vitani or Kovu expected their lives to go like this, but they faced it nonetheless. Even if another undead monster showed up, they would face it, as the fiercest and the king respectively.

A/N: I've been replaying the Telltale series and it inspired me. Now in terms of which Walking Dead continunity this is in, I imagine it could fit in both the comics/video games, or the tv series, but ideally I like imagining while the Lion King characters are dealing with Walkers, Clementine is kicking ass on another continent. This will be an anthology series, each chapters detailing different animals dealing with the zombie apocalypse.


	2. Chapter 2

Compared to the Pride Lands, the Outlands were rather desolate. Not to say life wasn't sustainable there. It's just the Pride Lands were lush with green life. But the creatures here managed themselves just fine. Least the living ones.

A rock slide had occurred earlier. No one was hurt, least anyone important. Midst the pile of rocks, something managed to crawl away. A trail of rotten blood followed as the poor creature attempted to crawl away. It's skin was rotten, eyes gray and milky, and currently it was missing both of it's legs. It continued to crawl along, giving moans of what sounded like confusion.

"So you think we should eat it?" Chungu asked his companion.

Cheezi thought about it for a moment, and without thinking, he grabbed hold of one of the creature's arms and pulled. It popped out easily due to the decay. He chewed upon the arm, dropping it just beside him.

"Hey! It's not bad!" The smaller hyena stated.

"Don't hog it all!" Chungu protested.

The two hyenas began to wrestle with the arm, tugging on it like a chew toy.

"What the heck are you fur brains doing?" An irritated voice asked.

Sure enough, a young male hyena walked up to them. Like Cheezi and Chungu, his fur was dark and his eyes were a shade of yellow.

"Janja! You're just in time!" Cheezi excitedly cheered.

"Yeah! We were just having a little snack!" Chungu announced.

Janja was about to question them when he noticed what was attempting to crawl away. "What the heck is that?"

Coming up behind him was a female hyena, her fur having a more violet hue to it, and her eyes a peaceful blue. The female stared at the rotting creature and her eyes widened in surprise.

"I've heard of these things." She said.

"Wait? You have Jasiri?" Janja asked.

"Yes. I've been hearing stories about these things showing up in the Pride Lands." Said Jasiri.

Janja looked at the strange creature with confusion. "What is it?"

"I don't know." Jasiri responded.

"Well, me and Chungu were thinking about eating the rest." Cheezi said.

"Yeah! So can we?" Chungu asked.

"Fur brains, were scavengers. This thing aint dead." Janja reminded.

"Yeah, but it's all rotten." Cheezi reminded.

"Yeah and it smells dead." Added Chungu.

Janja sniffed at the creature and winced. "Well you're right about that. But no! We aint eating it!"

"Oh come on Janja!" Cheezu whined.

"Please!" Chungu pleaded.

"What did I just say?" Janja growled.

Both Cheezi and Chungu shrank in disappointment. "Okay." They muttered. They knew better than to go against their leader.

Jasiri walked up beside Janja, eyes fixated on the creature before her. "We should put it out of it's misery." She said.

"It's dead Jasiri. We should just leave it." Janja gave his opinion.

"I know, but I feel bad for it." Jasiri said with sympathy.

Janja looked over the one armed creature as it feebly attempted to crawl away. "All right, I'll do it."

Walking over to it, it entered the monster's eyesight. As soon as it saw fresh living meat, the monster growled, flailing it's still attached arm as it tried to reach for the hyena. However, Janja was quicker, and with his jaws, he crunched down on the creature's skull. It gave away with a sickening crunch and fell dead. Thankfully hyenas had really strong jaws, so this was easy.

Janja tasted the blood in his mouth. "Hey it's not half bad. Aged well," Then he noticed Cheezi and Chungu were staring at him, "Uh yeah, but we still leave it, got it you two?"

"Got it." Cheezi and Chungu repeated.

Jasiri walked up to Janja with a smile. "Come on, I want to talk with you."

Janja looked at Jasiri curiously, but complied. The two hyenas walked further away from the other two.

"Do you think they are going to leave it be?" Jasiri asked.

"Eh those two may not be the sharpest pair, but they'll listen to me." Said Janja.

"Well you are their boss." Jasiri chuckled.

"You're the boss, I'm just the second boss." Janja confidently replied.

"Oh? So confident." Jasiri said amused.

"Hey you know me!" Janja said.

Jasiri smiled and shook her head. "You've changed. You've come a long way from that greedy gut I used to know."

"Eh I haven't changed that much." Janja said, though his tone implied it was a joke.

"Well the old Janja would have eaten that creature without a care." Jasiri reminded.

Janja considered her words for a moment, "Eh you've got a point. But still, like you said, you felt sorry for it."

Jasiri let out a sigh, "I do. You know? Maybe we should start taking precautions towards these things?"

"You think we have to?" Janja inquired.

"Yeah, I do. I mean the Pride Lands are doing it, and I'm responsible for everyone here."

Indeed Jasiri was. As the Prime Minister of the Outlands, she had a responsibility to all the creatures who lived her. So far her leadership hadn't been challenged. Though Reirei and her jackals still were not completely reformed. Then again, it was Reirei and her family.

"Hey you're a good leader. Outlands needed someone like you to take charge." Janja reassured.

Jasiri smiled, "Thanks Janja. I'm just thinking about the future that's all."

"The future? Don't that meerkat and warthog have a saying? What was it again?" Janja racked his brains for that particular phrase.

"Hakuna Matata." Jasiri chuckled.

"Yeah. I mean I think we should focus on the present and stuff...but focusing on the future is good too." Janja added on as he noticed his leader's uncertain look.

Jasiri grinned and shook her head. "You really have come a long way. I'm proud of you."

Janja felt a flush against his face, "Thanks. So have you."

"Well I guess we should focus on the future shouldn't we? Dad!" Jasiri then gave Janja a lick upon his cheek.

Janja's eyes widened when Jasiri uttered that word. "Wait, Dad?" Looking over to Jasiri, Janja asked, "Wait? Are you?"

But Jasiri didn't answer, she just laughed and ran off.

Just as he was about to run after, a smile crossed his face. "Huh...Dad. I could get used to that."

And so Janja bounded after. Even in a world with undead monsters, there was always hope for new life.


	3. Chapter 3

Sometimes, life could be so unfair. You could have one stroke of luck, and then wind up unlucky the next. A certain dolphin was once the same. She had swam freely in the sea without a care in the world. Sometimes she had to avoid fishing nets, but she was so clever she could evade them easily. However, a key thing young dolphins were taught were to never get beached. Once you were stuck on land, it was nearly impossible to get back in the water. That had happened to her a while back. In fact, she was almost eaten by a komodo dragon. Luckily some new friends managed to save her. Then she was back in the water to swim freely.

She had been swimming along freely when suddenly, it happened. It happened so fast, and before long, Lumba Lumba found herself beached again.

The poor dolphin sighed as she struggled to get back to the water. She could feel a faint splash as droplets of water hit her tail.

"Just my luck." She muttered.

Still, she wouldn't panic. There would be no need for that. All she had to do was struggle a bit, and then she would be back in no time! She tried moving her body, hoping to move at least an inch. She made some progress at least, but was still getting nowhere fast. Still, she couldn't give up. Giving up wasn't part of the Dolphin Way. She had sung a song about it. Not about not giving up, but dolphins never gave up. All she had to do was keep at it and she would make it back to the water. It wasn't a hot day at least, so there was that. And most importantly, there were no hungry dragons.

"Just have to keep moving." She told herself.

All she had to do was keep telling herself that and things would be fine. As she flopped about, her eye caught something in the distance. Two shapes were coming towards her. They looked too large to be dragons, or any kind of animal. The only creatures she figured were that tall were...humans!"

Humans were creatures dolphins and all animals were taught to be wary towards. They were unpredictable to say the least. Then again, any animal could be likewise, but humans were most unpredictable. Though she had heard good things about humans. Some of them even helped animals, so maybe this would work out she thought.

The human like figures drew closer, and sure enough, they were humans, key word on "were". Something was off about them, Lumba Lumba could tell that right away as she saw their skin. What was usually in various shades of peach, brown, or otherwise, was gray and lifeless. Furthermore, patches of their body were rotting and seemingly falling off. Her eyes grew wide and she noticed the lifeless slack jawed look they held.

They continued to shambled forward, and the more they did, the more horrible their features seemed to get.

Lumba Lumba struggled with all of her might to try and get away, but could only manage so much. The monsters continued forward, arms outstretched and growling as they proceeded towards the young dolphin. All the while, she felt the fear rising up within her. She saw her life flash before her eyes, her childhood, her days with her mother, being rescued by the Lion Guard, and up to now. There was so much she wanted to do. But she would never swim again, never eat a fish, or even fall in love and have little dolphins of her own.

The monsters drew closer; their featured becoming more clear as they did.

"Please. Stay back!" She pleaded, but the monster paid no heed. They just continued to shamble forward, moaning and groaning all the while.

Lumba Lumba closed her eyes, awaiting the end, when suddenly, a great sound rang out. One of the monsters gave a strangled grunt, and as Lumba Lumba cautiously opened her eyes, she noticed one of the monsters fell to the ground, blood pooling from it's head.

"Hey dipshits!" She heard a voice cry.

The other monster turned around, snarling as it noticed two figures coming it's way. The sound rang out again and it soon fell. It was obvious to the dolphin they were both dead. But that didn't end her fear, for she noticed two humans standing before her.

One of them looked to the other and said, "Dude what the hell? All this over a fish?"

Lumba Lumba felt offense at that remark. She would have protested, but knew humans couldn't understand animal speech.

"It's a mammal not a fish." The other human corrected.

"Whatever man, either way we could use the meat."

Lumba Lumba let out a gasp and did it's best to wriggle out of harm's way.

"What?! Look the poor thing is probably scared out of it's mind, we should bring it back to the water." The other human protested.

"Dude. It's a fish," The other human stared at him, "Right mammal. Well either way it's just some dumb animal."

Lumba Lumba was starting to dislike this particular human. So ignorant she thought.

"Would you eat Flipper?" The sympathetic human asked.

"No." The ignorant human answered.

"Well there you go. Now let's help it."

With reluctance from one of them, both humans each took one of Lumba Lumba's ends and slowly began lifting her to the water. Once she was close enough, they let go, and soon enough, she felt the cool refresh of saltwater. In no time she was able to sink into the depths and felt the freedom of the open water. But she wasn't done yet. Breaching up, she let out a sound. To the humans it sounded like a normal dolphin sound. But to animals it was a simple phrase: "Thank you!"

And so Lumba Lumba was free once more, only now she would be more careful in regards to swimming. She told herself she would never get beached again. And even in the apocalypse, there was still some humanity left.

A/N: Always wanted to do something with Lumba Lumba.


	4. Chapter 4

The dead shambled along aimlessly. Being living impaired, they held no real will or goal other than eating whatever living thing they came across. Perhaps that was some kind of "will", or maybe not. They seemed to have no real goal on where to go, just simply roamed without a care. A few had made it into the rocky area of the Outlands. They scanned their surroundings, neither eager, nor curious if anything alive wandered. All that was known if one did, they would go after it like flies on carrion.

One of them turned their head, moaning as it came to a stop. Suddenly, something feel hitting it with a tap. The dead grunted in curiosity, or at least as close to curiosity as it could feel. Turning it's head up, it's eyes caught something: living! Whether they could see full images, or if perhaps they simply could see shapes and colors, or even just heat, but something got their attention.

"Yes! Five points!"

The cheer came from a young jackal. Though no longer a small pup, he was still young by the reckoning.

"Two points? Oh come on Dogo quit cheating!" Another jackal, a female one complained.

Dogo flashed a smarmy grin, "Don't be a sore looser Kijana."

Kijana frowned as she suddenly heard the moans below. "Looks like we got their attention."

Sure enough, the dead were attempting to climb up the rock wall. Though seeing as there was nothing to really grab, and lacking the higher brain functions to do so, they made no progress.

Taking another rock, Kijana kicked it down. The rock harmlessly hit the other dead upon the head. Just like it's companion did before, it grunted and then continued it's attempt at food.

"There! Ten points!" Kijana announced triumphantly.

"Oh come on that was two points at least!" Dogo protested.

"Well you keep changing the rules so I think I should too." Kijana likewise protested.

Dogo scoffed and took another rock, kicking it back harmlessly. Likewise the dead grunted as the rock hit it.

"There! One hundred points," Dogo smiled, "Your turn."

Kijana kicked another rock down, "Two hundred points."

Dogo kicked another rock, "Three hundred."

Kijana kicked another rock, "Four hundred."

And another, "Five."

And yet another, "Six."

"Seven."

"Eight."

"Nine!"

"One thousand!"

"Two thousand!"

And this kept going as the two jackal siblings listed numbers and all the while kicked rocks down. The dead grunted all the same, probably unable to register pain. But pretty soon, they were out of rocks.

"Okay so who won?" Kijana asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Me!" Dogo declared.

"Oh please. You think you win at everything." Said Kijana.

"Yeah that's why I'm Mom's favorite." Dogo remarked proudly.

Kijana narrowed her eyes, "Mom loves us all equally."

"Fair point, but "I'm" her best student."

Dogo certainly was the most attentive of them and their numerous siblings. Not to say Kijana herself wasn't, it's just Dogo took to their mother's "jackal lessons" more easily than her or their brothers. Honestly, Kijana seemed a little jealous of her brother at times, but put it aside. They were a family after all.

Kijana watched her brother's grin remain plastered upon his face, then watched in an instant as that grin faded and Dogo gave out a yell. Kijana was about to question when she heard a growl behind them. And there it was, one of the dead!

"How did it get behind us?!" Kijana exclaimed.

"I don't know!" Dogo cried.

Dogo froze up as the dead one approached, arms outstretched as it attempted to reach out for Dogo. Kijana's mind raced as she tried to think up a way to save her brother.

"Dogo move!" She cried.

Snapping to attention, Dogo dodged to the side. The dead slowly turned as it tried to reach out to Dogo, but Kijana swiftly ran underneath it. Brushing against it's legs, the dead lost it's footing and in the confusion to grab for it's prey, it tumbled and fell over the cliff, giving one final moan as it did. A great thud gave out, and the two jackals looked over the edge. The dead had crashed on top of the other ones. It was hard to tell if they were gone or still "alive". But they weren't moving.

Kijana flashed a sly grin towards her brother and said, "One million points times infinity!"

Dogo frowned and simply replied, "Fine, you win."

"That's right. I do! Come on lets go home."

And the two jackals walked off, eager to tell about their day. So far playing with the dead had become a fun past time. Least for the jackal clan.

A/N: Went a little lighthearted this time, but sometimes you need something fun to pass the time in the Walking Dead universe


	5. Chapter 5

She could hear the screams in the back room. It had become routine, ever since the dead time. Maybelle say in her hay bed, still hearing the screams in her head.

"Please! Just let me go!"

Next followed a scream, and in her head she could still hear the screams. She had forgotten when they had exactly started doing this. It wasn't always this way though. A long time ago, the dairy was a place of joy. She still recalled the school children on tour. How they would laugh and show wonder, and of course there were times they were allowed to see the cattle. The barn had been full back then. She recalled her friends, her fellow bovines. Now all of them were dead. Now here she was, pregnant and alone.

Pregnant, she had to consider herself lucky, at least she would have a child to keep her company. She had to count her blessings for that. But still, she wished she had more. The door creaked open and she heard footsteps coming towards her. Soon one of her masters, Andy St. John came into view. The man let out a sigh as he cleaned off his hands.

"Got a good bath in today Maybelle. Should keep those bastards off our backs for a while." He said as he headed outside.

The "bastards" he referred to were nothing but lowly bandits. Apparently this new world brought out the worst in everyone, and it led to some turning into monsters, even worse than the literal ones that roamed around. The bandits had killed off some of the farm hands, so in response, her masters had made a deal with them: food for protection. Bread and dairy went a long way, but meat was the clincher. And while hunting could only go so far, they brought in a new meat.

Maybelle couldn't say anything to protest them. But to be honest, she felt torn. Her masters took care of her, they loved her, and never mistreated her. They weren't bad people, they had just been forced into a bad situation. She couldn't fault them for that. Besides, it wasn't as if she didn't meet new people. Some of the people they brought to the dairy were nice. Especially this current batch.

"Ew!"

She looked up to see the little girl who had come in lick her salt lick. Such a sweet child. Maybe they would spare her? After all, she was too small to trade. Then there was the vet. She was able to help her during these times, and let her masters know what was wrong with her. She had to take joy in these little moments. In today's world, she had to enjoy what little happiness she held.

And it wasn't like things were going to change right?

All these thoughts stayed with her as she heard the rain outside. She had blotted out most of what was happening, focusing on her contractions. And she focused, even as she heard the dead outside. Their moans accompanied the thunder. They piled in, arms outstretched. They could see her now, their moans growing even hungrier. Maybelle felt another contraction. But all she could do was cry out as the dead tore into her.

A/N: Okay, took a little break from Lion characters to focus on a canon Walking Dead character. I left the fates of Danny ambiguous to go with the multiple choice aspect of the games. To be honest, I am trying to decide on what Lion King character location should I focus on next? My three choices are back in the Pride Lands, The Tree of Life, or the whereabouts of Makucha's Army. Any ideas?


	6. Chapter 6

The endless hoard lay before them. A great sea of the dead. They moaned and wandered aimlessly, searching for their next meal. They didn't know where it would come. All they could do was seek it out, and go after anything that was alive. That's how the dead worked. They were without any real purpose, just an eternal desire to feed.

A moan sounded out, and his eyes looked over. A straggler lay upon the ground, either weak from injury or something else. The moaning stopped as a paw slammed heavily upon the head. A slicing sound rang out and next came the sickening squish.

"All right, that's done, now for the fun part."

He watched as a paw was held in front of him, laden with blood, guts, and intestines.

"Now I'm going to cover you okay?"

He nodded and the smearing began.

He winced as the slimy entrails coated his fur. The smell was strong, nearly making him gag.

"Now just remember, stay quiet, and don't run."

He nodded again.

"Good boy. Now let me get your back."

Soon his back was covered, and then his friend did the same to himself.

"There...all good...now lets go."

And so the pair started their trek into the undead hoard. Their moans filling the air, blocking out all other sounds.

XXX

"Man I am sooooooo bored!" Shabaha whined.

"What? Patrol isn't fun enough for you?" Tazama replied.

"No, it's just I wish one of those dead guys would show up." The Pride Lands bravest exclaimed.

A growl of discomfort gave out from Imara, "Ugh I can't stand those things!"

"Yeah those things give me the creeps," Kasi concurred, "I don't know how you can stand them Shabaha?"

"Because they're fun to kill!" Shabaha admitted, "I love it how their little heads go splat!"

This earned her a look of discomfort from her friends. Yet the smile never faded from Shabaha's face.

"All right girls settle down, we still have a bit more of patrol to do and then we'll head back." Vitani directed.

It had been this way for a while. The dead had become an occasional hazard in the Pride Lands. Word from Jasiri is that they were showing up in the Outlands too. Since then, both kingdoms had made precautions on how to deal with them. There was so much they didn't know about them. All they really knew is that destroying their brains brought them down. Nothing else killed them. Still, they made as many precautions as they could. It was all they could do in this situation.

"Lion Guard!"

Vitani and the others looked up and noticed a striped figure trotting towards them.

"Thurston?" Vitani remarked.

The zebra leader came to a stop, "Oh thank goodness I found you!"

"What is it?" Vitani asked.

"Well my herd and I were minding our own business when this horrid smell hit our noses," Thurston remarked with disgust, "We looked and it was this strange lion covered in who knows what. We thought he was one of those dead things and so we…"

"Let me guess? You panicked and ran?" Tamara said amusidly.

Thurston seemed taken aback for a moment before he composed himself, "Why of course we did!"

"Just take us to where he is Thurston." Vitani asked.

The zebra turned around and began to lead the Lion Guard towards where he had seen the lion. It didn't take long before they noticed something in the distance.

"There he is! See what I mean?" Thurston remarked.

Sure enough, a figure coated in red lay before them.

"Thank you Thurston, we'll take it from here." Vitani said.

"Well I certainly hope you do!" Thurston said before trotting off, presumably to find his herd.

Vitani looked to her fellow Guard members, giving them a sign to show caution. The five lionesses stalked quietly. The figure didn't seem to notice them, and when they were close enough…

"Hey!"

The figure looked up, and sure enough, it was a lion. The lion didn't go on the offensive, nor shown signs of aggression, instead he simply replied, "Hello there. How you doing today?"

Vitani and the others were momentarily confused at the casual greeting.

"Um..,we're fine." Vitani responded.

The lion walked up to them, the smell emanating from his fur hitting their noses. "So, you girls know of any watering holes around here? Me and my friend are dying of thirst."

At the mention of friend, the guard noticed something peeking out from behind the lion's back legs. It was a small cub.

"Oh! How cute!" Shabaha remarked.

As the cub came into view, they could see he too was covered in whatever smell they were coated in.

"Forget cute! What is that smell?" Imara exclaimed.

The lion looked to himself, sniffed, and replied, "Oh this? Sorry about that, but it was the only way we could get through the Walker herd.

"What's a Walker?" Kasi asked.

The lion raised an eye brow and said, "You know? The living impaired."

"Oh! You mean the dead!" Shabaha realized.

"The dead? Is that what you call them? Simple but it works." The lion considered.

"Wait? Did you say a herd? Those actually exist?" Vitani inquired.

"Oh yeah." The lion replied.

Hearing this the cub hid a little behind the strange lion.

"A whole herd of dead and you just happened to stroll right through them?" Tazama skeptically remarked.

"When you cover yourself in their guts, their smell, they can't tell you apart from one of them." The lion explained.

That answered where the smell was coming from.

"Granted you stay quiet too," The lion continued, "Because if they hear something they don't like...you can probably guess where that leads right?"

Each member of the guard looked to one another, concurring on that.

"We can take you someplace to clean you and your son up." Vitani began.

"Oh he's not my son." The Lion replied.

This seemed to spark some surprise in the Guard's faces.

"Nephew?" Vitani asked.

"Nah I knew his parents...they're dead." Revealed the lion.

A look of sympathy crossed Vitani's face and she leaned down and smiled at the cub. "So what's his name?"

"Kit." The lion answered.

Little Kit fully revealed himself and gave a little wave, "Hello." He almost whispered.

"So who exactly are you girls? The lion asked.

"I'm Vitani, this is Shabaha, Tamara, Kasi, and Imari," Vitani said introducing each member one by one, "We're the Lion Guard."

The lion looked curiously at the assembled quintet, "Lion Guard eh? I heard stores about a little group. Stories that say the leader has this crazy magical roar," Looking at Vitani, he seemed to be sizing her up, "Funny, I heard the leader was a guy. That and there was a honey badger, a cheetah-"

"You're thinking of Kion," Vitani replied, "He and the previous guard stepped down. Me and my friends protect the Pride Lands now." She replied almost defensively.

"Apologies, I don't mean any disrespect. I'm actually for an all female team. Gender equality and all that. Now about that clean up?"

"Oh sorry! Follow us." Vitani replied, as they started to walk, Vitani came to a stop and addressed the lion, "Wait. What's your name?"

The lion simply stared at her, and replied, "Call me Lucifer."

Vitani raised her own eye, but was cut off before she could say anything,

"It's not the name my mother picked, just something I chose for myself," Lucifer answered, "Well Vitani, lead the way."

Vitani and the Guard led the new arrivals to get cleaned off. Little Kit tagged alongside Lucifer, while Lucifer kept a close eye on his young charge and keeping a good eye on Vitani, making sure they weren't being led astray. Though Lucifer had to admit: he was enjoying the view.

A/N: And now we are back to the Pride Lands! Just to let everyone know, Lucifer only exists in the canon of this fanfic. Not in my other Lion King fanfics. I realized I didn't list his features, mainly because he is covered in Walker guts. Though he may show up later. Once he is cleaned off, he will probably be described.


	7. Chapter 7

Rumors could be spread by the wind. They started small but could become large enough to take down whole kingdoms. Though, it probably wouldn't have come to that. For the most part, things seemed peaceful at the Tree of Life. There hadn't been any troubles, not since that army of predators had invaded. Though they were on high alert for any sign of trouble, many of the tree's residents were put at ease due to the might of King Kion's roar.

But then again, rumors were rumors. And when they spread, animals talked. Faint traces, tales of death and pestilence had come to life. Though the tree hadn't seen such horrors, it inspired fear. Yet for now, Nirmala rested, spurring into service whenever an animal needed.

As she rested, she listened to the sounds the Tree provided. The various animals who lived there illustrated a picture of peace and tranquility. Though, that wasn't the case today.

"Nirmala!"

Nirmala shot up at the sound of her name being called. Her eyes spied ahead. She could make out several figures: Makini, Bunga, and even Baliyo. All three of them were struggling with a fourth, something tall. Noises were bellowing out into the sky. They sounded like angry groans. Alerted, Nirmala ran towards the commotion, but skid to a halt when she saw the creature before her.

The creature itself was tall, standing on two legs, and flailing arms, but was noticeable about the creature was it's rotting skin. Pale and discolored with patches missing revealing the bits and pieces of muscle.

Nirmala stared in disbelief as Makini turned to her. "Oh, Nirmala! We have to get this creature to the Tree of Life!" The mandrill said urgently.

"Makini what is this thing!?" Nirmala asked in shock.

"Don't know! We found it in the pass!" Baliyo answered.

Both Makini and Bunga had vines wrapped around the creature's neck, pulling on it and keeping it moving, yet the creature was struggling and snarling all the while.

"Whatever it is it smells worse than I do!" Bunga added.

Bunga was right, the creature was giving off a strong smell, like death itself.

"We thought maybe you could heal it?" Makini suggested.

Nirmala didn't know what to think. Nothing like this had ever happened at the tree. But they helped any animal in need. She supposed this creature counted as an animal.

"Fine. Bring it here." Nirmala relented.

They dragged the creature towards the Tree of Life, the creature snarling and growling all the while. By the time they reached the tree, they had to resort to knocking the creature down and dragging it inside. Soon they made it underneath and per Nirmala's instructions laid the creature down. Hesitantly, Nirmala placed a paw, and concentrating, she focused the energies within the tree into her and then into the creature.

As the healing energy entered the creature, everyone watched it carefully. They wait for the color in the skin to return, for the damaged portions to heal themselves. The creature halted for a moment, it's dull eyes becoming less focused, and it's growling turning into low moans. Everyone watched, but then shot back as the creature suddenly shot up and clawed at the air.

"It didn't work!" Makini cried.

"Maybe we need to try again?" Bunga suggested.

But they didn't get a chance, as Baliyo's heavy paws slammed down on the creature's head. Brains and blood splattered and the creature soon fell silent.

"Geeze! A little warning next time!" Bunga said as he picked some brains out of his fur.

Makini picked a little piece out of her hair, "I'm going to need a bath after this."

"Sorry guys," Baliyo apologized.

Everyone stared at the creature before them.

"Oh, the poor thing," Makini said mournfully.

Bunga eyed the creature with a curious but sad bent, "Man, now this is what I call rotten." Bunga of course was referring to a certain rotten fruit incident at the Savanna Summit.

Baliyo wiped his paws free of blood, "I don't think there was anything we could have done for it."

"Baliyo's right," Nirmala said as she gazed at the creature. "I think it was too far gone." The healer lioness cast a sad eye upon it.

The creature itself was now dead, or at least deader. That's what was evident about it. It was long dead, yet somehow walking. That was one of the rumors she had heard on the wind. The dead were rising and walking about, killing and eating anything living they could find. She had thought those were simply rumors, but there was one in the flesh, the rotting putrid flesh. How these creatures, these blights against the Circle of Life existed was beyond her, but here it was.

Of course, those thoughts were put on hold when Surak appeared in the tree. When asked what was going on? He merely replied.

"Trouble in the pass!"

A/N: Okay. Finally back with this. I had a large moment of doubt whether this was any good, but I got over it.


End file.
